Basic points:

• woman as a class
• assumption of power
• man as the principal enemy
• militancy in feminism
• politics of alliances
• non-hierarchical organization

Why do we call ourselves a Collective?

Because we discuss and do everything collectively. Together we all formulate a theory and put it into practice. In our Organization there is no hierarchy nor authoritarianism.

Why do we call ourselves FEMINISTS?

Because for us feminism signifies a revolutionary struggle directed and participated in by women who assume and defend the interests of the class of women. This struggle is oriented towards a total change of structures which shall not come about without the destruction of the Domestic Mode of Production, the foundation and base of all the dominant modes of production.

Why do only women militate?

Because to struggle to break the exploitation to which men of all social classes subject us is to struggle politically against all that is established and ancestrally rooted in our society dominated by men. We should not forget that the exploiter has a direct interest in perpetuating his status quo which, in this case, are the masculine privileges. Therefore, only the woman can advance and direct her own struggle, which is to be definitely subject and object for her own liberation.

Why do we consider feminism as a political action?

Because as a revolutionary movement we plan the total subversion of the capitalist and male society, where not only the mode of production has to change, but also the social relationships, the ideology and the entire culture. For these reasons and because we see that feminism has sufficient revolutionary potential, we defend single militancy.

Why are we autonomous and independent of political parties?

Because up to now the political parties have ignored the exploitation of women.

Because in the actual situation no political party can defend the interests of the class of women, the interests of feminism. Because only an autonomous organization will give us the possibility to discover the objectives, forms and places of struggle and will allow us to bring this struggle further without subjecting it to interests which are prejudicial to women in the short, middle or long run.

But this independence does not mean isolation. Aware of the concrete reality and of the situation which our country suffers, we declare ourselves partisans of the total break with the present government and establish opportune alliances with the rest of the exploited classes and oppressed groups: the proletariat, the farmers, the oppressed nationalities etc. in order to achieve the total change of structures.

Therefore we are not afraid of class struggle. On the contrary we fight for the abolition of all classes and we do it starting from our interests as the most exploited social class.

The defense of our interests obliges us to be radical, to go to the root of things and not to remain in simple reforms which can be absorbed by the structures of domination existing today in any country, be it capitalist or so-called socialist.

Why do we say that women are a class?

Because we think that the primary economic structure which subdues the woman as a unit of production of goods, is the family, which relegates her to her role as pro-creator of children and domestic workers. The family structure, interrelated with the other economic and political structures in any country, develops a political, juridical, cultural and religious ideology which imposes a principle of authority in the man's favor. Thus, there are two fundamental contradictions for the woman: the oppression and exploitation which a certain number of men exercise against the rest of the men and all of the women, and the oppression and exploitation of all women by men of all economic and social classes. We claim to end all exploitation of man by man and of woman by man.

What are our ultimate objectives?

The feminist revolution which puts an end to society divided into classes; with the exploitation of woman, who is the last socially and economically oppressed class; which ends any principle of power in the economic and work relations; and the creation of a feminist culture which implies free relations between free individuals in the spheres of culture, love, society and education.

IMMEDIATE CLAIMS

• total amnesty for all women and men prisoners
• juridical equality, to say the least, between women and men
• equality of rights for unwed mothers and suppression of the label "illegitimate child"
• divorce without necessity of guilty parties and in equality of conditions
• abolition of the male national dominion
• de-penalization and legalization of abortion
• free and gratis paid for by the Social Security - as a first step towards the attainment of the final goal: that contraceptive means be made available so that no woman would find herself in the necessity to abort
• repeal of all laws that prohibit the use of contraceptives. Serious investigation into its real effects and secondary problems. Production of contraceptives for men.
• the right of a woman to dispose of her own body
• recognition of the sexuality of children
• information about feminine sexuality and destruction of the myths of virginity, maternity, menopause, etc.
• de-penalization of homosexuality, recognizing it as a legitimate option of sexuality
• denunciation of the mass media for its use of woman as an erotic object and of consumption
• socialization of domestic work
• abolition of cultural and sexist roles
• equal education for male and female children and equality of possibilities and professional training
• obligatory education which is non-sectarian and free
• right to education in one's own native language
• equality of access to all places of work and to equal pay for equal work
• right to a permanent and continuous denunciation of all the aggression that we women suffer, both individually and collectively, as a form of struggle against a particular society

ONLY BY IMPOSING OURSELVES THROUGH THE ORGANIZED FEMINIST STRUGGLE WILL WE GAIN OUR LIBERTY

Feminist Collective of Barcelona